The invention relates to a safety anchor device for use by workers who job requires them to perform tasks along a railway line. Since railway tracks are often located along bridges or overpasses, such workers must often walk or work along narrow passages or spaces which are suspended from a height, and are at risk of serious injury or death if they lose their balance or fall.
Accordingly, it is necessary that such workers have a safety device which enables them to be harnessed or tethered to a secure structure, so that any fall is broken. At the same time, any such safety device must provide the worker with adequate freedom of movement so as not to unduly impede his ability to perform the requisite work.
The prior art has addressed this problem by providing means for tethering the worker to the rail of the railway track. A lanyard or tether is worn by the worker and is securely connected to the rail. In order to be practical, such devices must be securely fastened to the rail so as to prevent accidental disengagement of the device from the rail, while allowing the device to move along the rail, so as not to unduly impede the mobility of the worker.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,481 to Rich discloses a rolling restraint device which consists of a lockable hinged frame and a roller which bears against the surface of a structure, preferably the top of the rail, enabling the device to be rolled along the rail as the person to whom the device is tethered moves along or proximate to the rail.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,217,833 to Smith teaches a device which engages a beam or rail and features a means of pivotally adjusting the angle at which the worker is tethered, relative to the surface of the rail or beam.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,896 to O""Rourke teaches a fall arrest line anchor comprised of two plates which must be aligned and clamped together using a nut and bolt arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,430 to Roby teaches a rail mounted safety restraint device comprising a substantially U-shaped hood having a pair of hinged hood sections, each of which support a pair of upper and lower rollers to which engager the upper and lower surfaces of the ball of the rail.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,091 to Cuny teaches an antifall safety device comprising a sliding I-beam anchor consisting of a pair of C-shaped sections equipped with side beam rollers for bearing against the flange of a beam or rail.
However, the foregoing devices have the disadvantages of being relatively heavy or complex devices which may not be rapidly and easily connected and disconnected from the rail. Since a worker is frequently carrying tools or other materials, it is desirable to minimize the load and weight of the safety device worn by him. A device which is relatively heavy becomes a load which must be dragged by the worker as he moves relative to the rail. Further, since the worker must often perform work at different locations along the railway track, it is desirable that he be able to quickly and easily connect and disconnect the device from the railway track for maximum flexibility.
Therefore, it is desirable that a railway safety anchor be durable, relatively lightweight and portable, and have ease and simplicity of operation.
The present invention seeks to obviate and mitigate the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a sliding rail anchor device for slidable mounting engagement with a rail of a railway track comprising: a pair of jaw-like members having an exterior surface and an interior surface, said jaw-like members being angularly configured to grasp and slidably engage the rail of a railway track within a longitudinal channel defined by the interior surfaces of said jaw-like members; hinge means pivotally interconnecting said jaw-like members; a locking arm secured to said jaw-like members, substantially normal to said channel, said locking arm comprising: a first plate having an upper portion with an aperture extending therethrough, and a lower portion; and a second plate having an upper portion with an aperture extending therethrough, and a lower portion; wherein said upper portions partially overlap each other enabling said apertures to be concentrically aligned to receive karabiner means, and said lower portions are respectively adjacent and secured to said exterior surface of said jaw-like members.